WHICH VERSION DO I CHOOSE? X4, X5 ..x3???

[garjobo]

Paintshop x4 Pro/Ultimate or Paint X5...

Although i want the latest Videostudio product - using HD footage AVCHD etc...im not going to use paintshop half as much and more for making dvd covers etc...Id say price comes into it as well...but actually from the reviews Ive read..it appears X3 is the more 'stable' version!! Now obviously that is the cheapest...but at the same time...for the sake of an extra £20..happy to get the x4 ( pro? ultimate? )...the x5 ( Ulitmate ) is over my budget..however for the difference of £10 i can get the x5 pro or the x4 ulitmate.

What'd you think?

I enjoyed playing around with Photoimpact vers 12 a lot..but find it unstable to save etc on windows 7.

So advice more than welcome please?
thanks

[LeviFiction]

X3 was the least stable and the most infuriating version of the three you mentioned. And that was after 5 whole service packs. I highly recommend you don't get X3.

I also highly recommend that you download the trial version of X4 and X5 to see which you prefer and which has features you will use most often. Some are complaining that X5 is unusable, others have no issues with it at all.

So it's always best to try before you buy.

[df]

I have to disagree somewhat. Although X3 has it's issues X4 didn't fix any and introduced a few more and was less user friendly. I have yet to try X5 but judging from the way Corel does things I'm sure there's a few bugs that haven't been found yet. At any rate, if you're not getting too fancy an older version would likely work fine, even a much older version.

If you enjoy Photoimpact but there's a compatibility issue you may try running it under Compatibility mode for XP SP2. Find the executable file (right click your shortcut to start the program, click Properties, on the Shortcut tab click the Open File Location button, a window will open with the file highlighted). Right click the file, click Properties. On the Compatibility tab check the box for running in compatibility mode, choose XP SP2. You may also tick the Run as Admin box as well. Click Apply, OK. Try running the program.

Hope you get it working.

[garjobo]

Thanks Dan and Levi for your comments.

Dan, so as usual...im left with..what do i do!..always the case..with computers and their software its never easy is it...as is..im currently lookng for a new printer, graphics card, powersupply ( to run graphics card ) and a blurray burner....one says this another says that.

Im HAPPY to purchase X4...I mean...its only human nature isnt it to want something newer...as good as PI12 is..it is a...was...and id hope X4 is an improvement and though not perfect..surely to goodness its better.

X5 due to cost is out ive decided but please, as your a user, tell me this...Will i be happy enough with X4..Worthy of £40 spent..and a case of youll get out of it what you put in it...aka..it will work fine. May not be 100% but heck what is...it will do the job for the dvd covers i want to create?

[LeviFiction]

Paint.NET, GIMP, and others will all be able to make DVD covers since all that really entails is making an image of a certain size and having the tools to make what you want.

And all of those are free.

Always, try before you buy. The tools are all there, it is powerful, it works well, the issues that come up are more (though not all) with how you intend to use it. As a new user you'll have more flexibility there than users who are a little more set in their ways....like myself. I don't use X5 simply because it limits where I can dock my palettes even though it has a lot of good points to it.

Will X4 be good enough to create DVD covers? Definitely, unless there is something specific that you need that we don't know about.